Programs and Projects

Conservation Management Team

Mt. Tam’s awe-inspiring landscape, mosaic of habitats, and sweeping vistas beckon us to explore, and compel us to protect.

The open grasslands, chaparral and oak-covered knolls, Douglas fir and California bay forests, and redwood-filled canyons contain approximately 900 plant species and over 150 species of birds. Gray foxes, bobcats, coyotes, black tailed deer, and mountain lions all call Mt. Tam home.

Though protected from development, the mountain’s rich biodiversity is threatened by ecological challenges like conversion of native habitat by invasive species, climate change, and Sudden Oak Death.

Conserving Mt. Tam

A field-based OneTam Conservation Management Team will provide an essential and borderless support structure for various facets of conservation science, monitoring, and management, and will help foster a common and coordinated approach for all of Mt. Tam. By working together, we can better detect and control invasive weeds before they become intractable, map rare and sensitive plant communities to inform management, monitor indicator species and wildlife across landscapes, track changes in rare plant populations using GIS technology, and research protection of key species in a changing climate.

A OneTam Conservation Management Team will be able to understand, restore, and protect Mt. Tam as a whole within the mosaic or Marin’s protected areas

Existing Marin-based inventory and monitoring programs could be expanded, and new programs created to help fill critical information gaps

A trained Conservation Management crew can take on weed management jobs that are too risky, technical, or unpleasant to be appropriate for volunteers

The stunning Marin manzanita is one of the rare plants the Conservation Management program can help monitor

This program will help support citizen science programs like plant phenology and wildlife camera monitoring